The Magee 1866 clothing brand has faced “significant challenges” due to a drastic drop in sales during the pandemic.
It has been revealed that the company introduced a redundancy programme for staff last year in response to falling revenue.
The Irish Times reports that the Magee brand’s Donegal Bay Group recorded pre-tax losses of €502,590 in 2019. Revenues decreased by 9% to €14.14 million by year end 2019. The group had 118 employees in its books by the end of 2019.
Revenues decreased by 60% in 2020, as the brand faced the closure of its retail outlets during times of restrictions. Online sales were the only exception to falling revenues last year.
Magee Clothing chief executive Rosy Temple told Donegal Daily: “Covid-19 had and continues to have an impact due to the global disruption to the textile manufacturing sector and supply chain, together with the extended closure of all non-essential retail in Ireland and the UK.
“This resulted in a sales drop across the company, www.magee1866.com was the exception to this and saw positive growth.”
Ms Temple said the Covid-19 induced sales decrease regrettably led to some re-structuring during 2020.
Looking ahead to post-pandemic times, Ms Temple said the company is hopeful that sales revenue will return: “Magee 1866 continue to operate across Weaving, Clothing & E-Commerce and look forward to the re-opening of retail stores when restrictions allow.
“As a 5th generation family business who have been in Donegal for over 150 years, Magee 1866 is committed to building on our rich heritage of Weaving and continuing to develop our lifestyle collections across Men, Women and Home Interiors.’’
